Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Hey romance reading folks ever get tired of the hero always falling for the slim, beautiful, twenty-something heroine? I know many who read my books are so with their encouragement I've started a new series called Mature Men.

Not all women are slim, beautiful, or twenty-something. But all deserve
to be able to lose themselves in a romance that reflects who they are. The men in this series won't always end up with the typical romance heroine.

The first book in the series is called Long, Slow Second Look and features a bbw heroine, who has very average looks (based on a co-worker who despite being average looking and bbw, had most of the men in the office where we worked drooling over her because of her great personality and self-confidence) but never doubts that she has just as much right to be swept off her feet as any other woman.

The blurb is below. Let me know what you think.

When full-figured Amber Hunt-Darkwater and sexy
John Reddorn meet at a party, they each have an agenda. Amber is there to
attract the romantic attention of a handsome doctor who would make a great
husband if only he'd stop running and allow her to catch him. John, who is happily
divorced and has many willing bed partners, is looking for a female friend
without any sexual benefits sought or given.

Nevertheless, within minutes of their meeting,
they are lost in a heated lip lock and sharing a sexy bump and grind while the
good doctor looks on in shock. The sexual chemistry between them is sizzling. Once
they are alone the heat level between them rises to dangerous heights neither
can contain nor control.

Monday, January 27, 2014

I've always been grateful to the readers who
support me by buying my books and posting reviews when they enjoy them. Some of
them have been with me for years following me from the publication of Dream
Lover, my first erotic romance written over twelve years ago. They've followed
me from publisher to publisher and stayed with me when I decided I wanted to
self-publish my books.

I've become so close to a few of them that we've
exchanged phone numbers and occasionally talk on the phone for hours.

I've never been more grateful for reader support
than I was yesterday. I was enjoying a quiet Sunday trying to learn how to do
pivot tables when I received an email from a reader who told me large portions
of one of my books had been published by another author as her own. At first, I
thought it was a misunderstanding and that the book in question just had a
similar theme to my book. However, when I asked her for examples, she sent me
email after email filled with passages from Skin Deep (my book) along with the
corresponding passages from the other book.

I was stunned. Many of the passages were literally
lifted word for word from Skin Deep and placed in the other book. She didn't
even rephrase. She just changed it from first person (Skin Deep is a
confession) to third person and added her hero and hero's names to my love
scenes and dialogue.

When I confronted her, she told me she'd never
heard of me and had never read Skin Deep and asked me to stop the smear campaign
against her. Excuse me? I'm not the one who called her out on Facebook. Moreover,
that's rich coming from someone who stole large passages from my book,
published them, and earned royalties and praise for a book that contained a
large amount of my work.

We went round and round until she finally admitted
that the passages were the same. DUH! Since I wrote Skin Deep over seven years
ago and she published her rip off book this month I think we know which of us
actually wrote the scenes.

Nevertheless, she still insisted she'd never heard
of me or read Skin Deep. She just magically managed to write a large portion of
it almost word for word without ever having read it. Yeah. Right.

Honestly, I'm nuts because I almost felt sorry for
her. Almost. Imagine having to admit that you stole another author's work and
tried to claim it as your own.

Thank God for the reader who read Skin Deep years
ago and then recently reread it before reading the other book. She's the reason
I found out I'd been ripped off. Not only did she alert me to the plagiarism but
she also went to the trouble of providing all the examples I needed.

When I purchased the other book myself and read
the passages, I was furious. I was also disheartened that anyone calling
herself writer could do that to another writer. My experiences with other
authors have almost always been extremely positive. I've found them friendly
and very willing to help a fellow author.

Author Clare Thompson was instrumental in my decision
to self-publish so I could have more control over my work. After I'd emailed
her asking for feedback on a publisher who had sent me an invitation to write
for them, she encouraged me to publish my books myself. I told her I worked
full-time and didn't have the expertise or time to self-publish. Even though
she had a full-time job herself, she took the time to send me step-by-step
instructions on the process of self-publishing. Without her encourage and help
I would not have taken the plunge.

Author Kate Douglas (yes that Kate Douglas) once
took the time to rewrite one of my horribly written synopsis so that it was
actually understandable and suitable to send to a publisher.

Author Margaret Riley (who has the most beautiful
head of hair I've ever seen in person) used to listen to my rants when I was
having problems with one of my editors and encouraged me when I wanted to stop
writing.

Over the years countless other authors has helped
and encouraged me. So to have an author plagiarize my work was hurtful and
shocking.

But thank God for wonderful and loyal readers
whose support keeps me writing when I'd otherwise be running my wrists playing
video games instead.

The other book has been removed from publication
and I've had her word that she will not publish it again until she's removed
all of my work. What do you think? Is that sufficient? You'll notice I haven't
named the other author or her book title. What do you think? Should I name her and the book she "wrote?"

Saturday, May 07, 2011

After receiving an email from a reader about my latest release (In Blood And Worth Loving 2—Lost Without You), I need to vent. Therefore, I’m blogging again. LOL!

This is 2011. I would have thought that women reading erotic romance (which is mostly what I write) would have a fairly open mind. But not so much. Some of them still seem to expect heroines in erotic romances to behave as heroines used to in books from the 70’s. And it seems to be based on the old double standard where it was okay for the hero to be sexually free while the heroine should be sexually repressed until she gives it up to the hero. All while the hero is still sleeping with other women after he meets her.

WHAT? In 2011. Really? In my personal life, I’m as prudish as they come. But why would anyone reading erotic romance expect the heroine to act like a heroine from the 70’s? If that’s what you want, why read erotic romance? Why not read sweet, formula romance? Why buy erotic romance and then complain when the heroine insists on the same level of sexual freedom as they hero?

The heroine in Lost Without You is a modern, educated, divorced woman in her 30’s. She’s not a 21 or 22-year-old virgin from a 70’s sweet romance. She’s not just sitting around waiting and hoping the hero will come along so she can have a meaningful sex life. She’s has one when she meets the hero. He has one as well. Why is it acceptable to modern women for him to have one but not her?

Why do women progressive enough to read erotic romance insist on old-fashioned behavior from their heroines? On countless occasions, readers have written to complain when one of my heroines slept with another man after she’d met the hero. Now mind you, the hero also slept with other women after he’d met the heroine. Did I ever get any complaints about the hero sleeping around after he met the heroine? Absolutely not. It’s always the heroine they complain about while excusing the hero’s behavior.

When are women going to stop trying to force that sexual double standard on the heroine while continuing to give the hero a free pass for the same behavior? At what point do heroines get sexual equality with such readers?

In one of my books (Skin Deep), the hero has an outrageous sexual encounter with his brother’s wife. Did readers complain? Not about his behavior. He’s one of my most popular heroes. The only complaints I heard were about the heroine (who didn’t behave outrageously with anyone’s husband). The hero got a free pass.

One of these days female readers are going to get progressive enough to allow heroines to be as sexually unrepressed as heroes. I hope.

That’s my take. What’s yours?

Below is the blurb from my latest book—In Blood And Worth Loving 2-Lost Without You—just in case you feel a compelling need to rush over to my site (http://www.marilynlee.org)to buy it. LOL!

With his favorite lover traveling, vampire Jayvyn Redwolfe spends a night clubbing. A “chance” meeting with a human woman intrigues him. When he learns she’s struggling to recapture her ex’s attention, he agrees to pretend to be her new love interest. Things go awry when Jayvyn realizes he’s falling into blood with another man’s woman.

Charmed by Jayvyn’s attentiveness, Cayenne Pepper’s interest in reuniting with her ex wanes as she starts to fall for Jayvyn. She’s unaware that she’s arousing the passion of a vampire whose hunger for her blood and heart is rapidly nearing the point where he’ll do whatever is necessary to possess her—including killing her ex.